|
FLB Friends of Latin American Railways PR-OFFICE: Samuel Rachdi, Bahnhof, CH-6422 Steinen SZ; Tel. +41/41/832.01.34; Fax +41/41/832.01.35
VOLTA O TREM Information Organ of the Association Friends of Latin American Railways 15th Year, Number 5
FLB INTERNALS ITINERARY TO THE MEETING POINT RESTAURANT STERNEN FOR MEETINGS FROM APRIL 2009 ONWARDS How to reach Restaurant Sternen: From Winterthur main station take bus No.3 towards Rosenberg, get off at the bus stop Bachtelstrasse, go across the street crossing and then go down along Bachtelstrasse towards Veltheim town centre, turn left into Löwenstrasse, and the Sternen Restaurant is just across the street from a school building. The Löwenstrasse can be found on the town map under: http://maps.google.ch/maps?hl=de&q=Winterthur,+Schweiz&ie=UTF8&ll=47.506824,8.724539&spn=0.006682,0.019999&z=16 AIFFLA Since July 2011 members of the Co-operative AIFFLA are now also getting their own information brochure. It will be published less often than Volta o Trem and contain information on the activities of the Co-operative. AFIELD INFO is distributed to all AIFFLA bond owners. Saturday, 19th November 2011, at 14 h 30 The German TV station SWR has finished a film about the Chilean Railways; it can be viewed on ARTE at the end of October and FLB will get a copy on DVD which will be presented at the meeting of 19 November 2011 at Winterthur. We have already received permission from SWR to present the film. Elections will soon take place in Argentina; this helps to introduce some improvements on Argentine Railways. After refurbishing 1 locomotive, UEPFP Ferrobaires has reintroduced the Buenos Aires - Junín - Alberdí service on June 16, 2011. State rail operator SOFSE inaugurated the Lincoln - Realicó service in Buenos Aires province June 23. This line was already inaugurated in 2009 by state president Kirchner, but trains have not run since. The service is operated with a FerroExpreso Pampeano locomotive and 3 SOFSE coaches once weekly, needing 8 hours for 246 km, and the service connects with UEPFP’s Buenos Aires - Lincoln service. To meet the high demand during school holidays Tren de las Sierras extended the schedule of the weekend train to a daily service since July 15. The Viedma - San Carlos de Bariloche train was reinstated on July 15 after a month of closure of the line because of the heavy ash fall from the Chilean Puyehue volcano. July 29 saw the introduction of public service with a Talgo train between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata. The 400 km journey needs 5 ½ hours and operates twice weekly. SOFSE operates this service, not UEPFP. July 30 a test run operated from Buenos Aires to Concordia and the Uruguayan border station Salto Grande with a Dutch Wadloper railcar. This was a test for a planned through service between Buenos Aires and Salto (Uruguay) which may be inaugurated August 29. At Santa Fe test runs over the urban rail line have not taken place. The line and stops have already been rehabilitated and the operator waits for the operating license. Metrotranvía of Mendoza held public test runs over the first 3,8 km electrified section of the 12 km line from Mendoza railway station to Maipú. The Metrotranvía line uses the broad gauge main line within the city and second hand trams from San Diego USA are operating. UEFER of Entre Rios province plans to replace the Basavilbaso - Villaguay - Concordia local train with a Materfer built railcar. SOFSE opened several additional stopping places on its Chaco lines. Notices from the Transport Ministry indicate that state operator SOFSE may run a local service out of Salta using an ex-FEVE railcar already in Salta. It is still unknown if the service may run to Güemes or Cerrillos. The Argentine company Cometrans was buying 10 second hand DMU’s of the type DH-2, called Wadloper, from Dutch railways. The initial plan was to rebuild these railcars to 1675 mm gauge for the use on lines West of Buenos Aires operated by TBA. In the meantime Entre Rios province was also showing interest for these railcars. In July 2011 Argentine state president Fernández de Kirchner met with Uruguay president Mujica about several border issues between the two countries, including revitalization of the international railway line between Concordia and Salto (Uruguay). Very surprisingly such a railcar was used for a test run from Buenos Aires to the Uruguayan border station Salto Grande. August 6, the railcar entered Salto station and continued to Paysandú in Uruguay. There it was stabled because a strike at Uruguay State Railways AFE, due to reorganisation plans, made further penetration on the network impossible. Finally on August 8, the Wadloper could continue its journey over 275 km to Durazno and one day later it arrived at Montevideo. From there test runs have been made to San Ramón and Victor Sudriers. Later on the railcar returned to Concordia, a 627 Kilometres journey. On August 29 state president Fernández de Kirchner will inaugurate a rail passenger service Buenos Aires - Salto (Uruguay) when visiting Salto in Uruguay. This service will be operated on a 3 months trial basis with a Wadloper DMU. Argentine companies are showing some interest in operating railcar services to Uruguay. Salto - Paso de los Toros or even Buenos Aires - Montevideo have been named, but in any case sections of Uruguayan lines must first be rehabilitated. Brill and Wadloper railcars at Montevideo 
Photograph: M. Benoit, Montevideo BRASIL Serra Verde Express plans to operate a further tourist train out of Curitiba. This train may run on a monthly basis to Lapa, south of Engenheiro Bley on the line to Mafra. Lapa was playing an important role during the 1894 revolution, and former Federal Railways RFFSA operated such a train, then with steam traction, from the early 1980s to about 1994. CUBA A local service Habana - Los Pinos - Expo Cuba - Calabazar started with 4 train pairs daily using Alstom-built Dm11 railcars. The section Calabazar - Airport - Santiago de las Vegas - Rincón is currently under rehabilitation. Pinar del Rio will soon get a local service using a railcar. Several local services have been reactivated, for example Las Tunas - Camagüey and services around Guantánamo. State Railways FNH are currently rehabilitating a further section from San Pedro Sula to the neighbouring city of Chamelecón and is hoping to inaugurate this new service by mid 2011. The State Secretary for Transport announced that in a Private Public Partnership 200 km of tracks, several bridges and 16 stations may be rehabilitated to run freight and passenger trains from San Pedro Sula to Puerto Cortez, Tela and La Ceiba. Investments may reach about USD100 million. PERU
|
